Obituary

Cornell alumnus Richard J. "Dick" Schaap '55, the best-selling author and sports broadcaster known for weaving superb profiles of the past century's biggest sports stars, died Dec. 21 in Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan from complications following hip surgery. He was 67.

Before Schaap earned national acclaim for his writing and for his media work, he proved himself an academic star and proficient athlete at Cornell. He was the starting goalie for the university's lacrosse team while he served as editor for the Cornell Daily Sun. In 1955, Schaap missed the Harvard game because he was in New York City to accept the prestigious Grantland Rice Fellowship at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. Probably the most notable lacrosse game during Schaap's athletic career was on May 18, 1955. Syracuse barely beat Cornell 13-12, scoring the winning goal with about a minute left in double overtime. Syracuse's Jim Brown, who would later become a National Football League legend, scored four goals against Schaap, who made 20 saves in that game.

Schaap graduated in 1955 from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and over the years he was a proud and loyal alumnus of the university.

Following graduate school at Columbia, he worked for Newsweek magazine (1959-63) and the New York Herald Tribune (1964-66), serving as the paper's city editor and as a columnist. Schaap became the editor of Sport magazine in 1973, and he delivered sports reports for WNBC-TV in New York City. His local television reporting skills led to national assignments for the NBC and ABC networks. Schaap won Emmy Awards for his profiles of comedian Sid Caesar's recovery from substance abuse and the late Tom Waddell's battle with AIDS, sports reporting on ABC's "World News Tonight" and for television writing.

In 1989, he became the host of the then-fledgling, weekly cable television show "The Sports Reporters" on the ESPN sports network. The show became a cable sports fixture. He also hosted a show on ESPN Classic and a weekly radio program on ESPN with his son, Jeremy '91.

In addition to his Emmy awards, Schaap was proud of his induction into Cornell's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985. He also won Cornell's Ben Mintz Media Award in 1995.

For a number of years, he was the master of ceremonies for Cornell's annual Hall of Fame dinners, and for the past several summers, he served as master of ceremonies for the annual Big Red Golf Tournament.

During his career, Schapp wrote or co-wrote 33 books. The autobiographies of football star Jerry Kramer, Instant Replay, and of super athlete Bo Jackson, Bo Knows Bo, both made The New York Times best-seller list. In his final book, Flashing Before My Eyes, by Dick Schaap as told to Dick Schaap, published last year, he recounts humorous and poignant memories of a career spanning 50 years.

"Dick was the happiest, most generous, most optimistic man I ever knew," wrote noted Washington Post sports columnist and TV colleague Tony Kornheiser.

Schaap is survived by his wife, Trish; daughters Renee, Michelle '84, Joanna and Kari '04; sons Jeremy '91 and David; and five grandchildren.

Contributions to the Dick Schaap Memorial Fund, which benefits Cornell lacrosse, can be made by sending a check for the fund to J. Andrew Noel, director of athletics, Cornell University, Teagle Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853.